SLOW broadband speeds are “still an issue” in rural parts of Worcestershire, the leader of the county council has admitted.

During a meeting of the ruling Conservative cabinet at County Hall, bosses also said the “bar had been raised” in terms of people’s expectations over connection speeds.

Government guidelines now suggest 30mbps (megabits per second) is classed as ‘superfast’ broadband, up from the old benchmark of 24mbps.

But the council is ahead of the game, with £8.5 million of cash earmarked towards a project aimed at giving 90 per cent of the county’s properties superfast status by 2015.

Councillor Adrian Hardman, the leader, said: “If you live in an area where the exchange has already been upgraded by BT, speed is not an issue, but if you’ve got partial coverage, like me, it is an issue.

“Some people think laying a few miles of fibre optic cables will do the trick, but it requires more than that.

“Broadband is very important, and I believe the solutions to problems in Worcestershire’s communities have to be local.”

The council has one of the country’s best track records in upgrading broadband, with the Government handing it £3.3 million three weeks ago.

As your Worcester News reported last week, about 2,100 homes, 70 farms and more than 50 businesses will benefit. But the cabinet also made an appeal for more people in rural communities to let them know if their speeds are slow.

Councillor David Thain, cabinet member for transformation and change, said: “If people in any parts of Worcestershire want to come to us, we’ll be able to look at it and advise them on the situation.

“We will do absolutely everything in our power to ensure we deliver faster broadband to as many people as possible.”

As we also revealed this week, a fresh bid is being put together for funding to ramp up speeds in Ombersley and Abberley.

The cash would be from a £20 million pot being supplied to bidders across the country by DEFRA.